Friday, May 24, 2019

Tune up your bike! May is National Cycling Month. The weather in many areas has become beautiful, so it's a great time for families to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. My girls and I have been enjoying our local cycling path, and it inspired me to share some information on why cycling is not only fun but great for your health, too. Give this a read, then grab your helmet, get outside, and get your wheels rolling!

It's good for the joints. Many people are fans of running as a form of outdoor exercise. However, it's well-known that running is rough on joints, especially the knees. Biking is much easier on your joints, but you'll still reap the benefits of burning calories.

You'll improve your muscle tone. Cycling works all of the major muscle groups, like your legs, abs, and back. Whether you're on a path, going uphill, or biking on a flat road, you're using your muscles to move you along.

Cycling decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease.A Danish study found that regular cycling protected participants from heart disease. Some studies have shown that it may also be linked to lowered rates of bowel cancer.

It's good for your brain. Cycling is a lot of fun, so it should be no surprise that it has great benefits for your mental health. Many studies have shown that cycling, like many forms of exercise, can help reduce anxiety and depression.

Cycling will improve sleep. Any form of exercise is said to improve sleep quality, and cycling is no exception! If you have kids who don't like to sleep or won't sleep through the night, maybe it's time to get them a set of wheels.

You can decrease your exposure to pollution. A study by the Healthy Air Campaign in London showed that those who travel by car were exposed to three times more pollution than those who travel by bicycle. With this in mind, you might want to switch more of your commutes to cycling journeys.

Biking powers up your brain. A study by Charles Hillman indicated that cycling boosts brainpower. It can even help to stave off Alzheimer's in the elderly.

Cycling can make you feel good about yourself. Exercise in general, but especially cycling, has been shown to improve self-esteem. That's a benefit that the whole family can enjoy!

You don't need to be an expert. Compared to other sports, cycling demands a relatively low level of skill and knowledge. Nearly anyone can learn how to ride a bike, and you know what they say: Once you learn, you never forget. I know learning to ride a bike without training wheels was one of my eldest daughter's proudest moments!

Biking helps to save the planet. Cycling is a mode of transportation that doesn't create harmful carbon emissions like cars and trucks do, meaning that it's great for the planet. You can use cycling as an environmental lesson for kids: Encourage them to ride their bikes to the park or the corner store instead of asking for a ride from their parents to reduce pollution.

Thursday, May 16, 2019

You may have noticed that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Just as it's important for adults to practice self-care and tend to their mental health, it's important for parents to help foster the same skills in children. Mental health should be taken as seriously as physical health. But what you may not realize is that play is vital to your child's mental health. Not only does it have health benefits, but a lack of play can be detrimental. I've come up with a list of the ten biggest reasons why play is important to mental health. And you can bet I consulted my girls!

Depression and anxiety rates have been rising steadily in the past 50 years in the U.S. Psychologists still struggle to understand the root causes of depression and anxiety, but in young people, many link the rising rates to a declining sense of control over their fate and a shift from intrinsic goals to extrinsic goals. How does play work into this? The amount of time kids get for free play has been on the decline, too. Freedom to play independently gives children a sense of control over their lives and allows them the independence to work on internal goals. When kids can't play on their own, making their own rules, they're deprived of the chance to make and meet their own goals while building confidence.

Play can promote positive feelings! Hopefully, all of us have felt the joy and thrill of play. All of us need a pick-me-up sometimes, and through play, kids can learn early what kinds of activities make them feel relaxed and happy.

Play builds resilience. We will all face struggles, setbacks, and hard times. A sense of resilience is key to helping us pull through. Through play, children can build a sense of both physical and mental resilience, as play can push them to develop emotional responses and help them manage adversity.

Believe it or not, play can actually improve the attention spans of kids who have trouble concentrating.

It's probably no surprise that play can help children improve their social skills. While playing with others, they get plenty of social practice along with the chance to improve their empathy.

Studies have shown that schools with increased free play time have fewer incidents of bullying. A lot of people think this is because play helps kids to decrease aggressive feelings and regulate their anger and frustration.

Did you know that play has great benefits for adults, too? Take this as your cue to host a game night, sing some karaoke, or play some mini-golf: It'll improve your mood and lower your stress levels.

For children who have already been diagnosed with a mental illness, like depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, or OCD, play can be an instrumental part of therapy. Play therapy, art therapy, and music therapy can be quite effective.

Play is a great chance for kids to learn problem-solving skills. The confidence to solve problems can help kids improve self-esteem and experience less frustration in the face of challenges.

Play can work the imagination. Of course, the point of play is to have fun, and when kids are relaxed and creating their own fun, they have the time and space to let their imagination run wild!

Monday, May 13, 2019

I've always found that one of the most rewarding and challenging parts of parenting has been watching my girls develop socially. Watching them make friends, teaching them how to have positive interactions with others, and helping them develop manners takes a lot of thought, and it seems like the job is never done! The good news is that there are many fun play activities that can help kids start learning good social skills at an early age. Teachers, parents, and guardians can use these fun activities to help kids develop their social skills.

Know the Milestones

You and your kids should focus on different sets of social skills and abilities depending on their age. Here are a few milestones to look out for and work on, depending on the age of the kids in your care.

2-to-3-year-olds: Kids this age should be comfortable saying their "hi" and "bye" greetings. They're also able to understand that they should not interrupt and will wait their turn to talk. You might also find that their sense of humor is developing and they giggle at jokes!

3-to-4-year-olds: Kids in this age group should be able to start a conversation with their words now. You'll also find them interacting with toys as if they're humans. You can also play games with them that require them to wait their turn.

4-to-5-year-olds: These kids are more cooperative when playing with others than younger children are. They're able to make and follow direct requests like "stop" or "wait."

5-to-6-year-olds: "Please," "thank you," and "sorry" should all be used regularly by children in this age bracket. They should also understand what bad language is and have a concept of playing fair and good sportsmanship.

6-to-7-year-olds: These kids should have a sense of empathy. They'll communicate with gestures, tell jokes, and express their point of view. Despite this, they won't always totally grasp the difference between right and wrong.

Fun Play Activities for Strong Social Skills

These are some activities that will help kids develop their social skills:

Teach children about personal space. I recommend the book Personal Space Camp as a fun read. You can even have kids design their own "personal space planet" to better understand the concept.

Encourage pretend play. When kids act out scenarios with dolls and toys, it helps them to learn empathy.

Read books from around the world to children. This will help them appreciate and respect diversity.

Have kids identify different tones of voice with emotion. You can do this with a tape recording, or you can look for opportunities to quiz them while they watch TV.

Make a collage with different facial expressions. Ask your kid what they think the people in the collage might be feeling.

If you're trying to teach a group of young children to take turns, have them sit in a circle and roll a ball to each other. Before they roll the ball, they should call out the child they're rolling to by name and make eye contact with them.

Have you tried any of these activities? Let me know if your kids liked them or if you have other ideas!

Thursday, April 18, 2019

When my girls see rain outside, they grab their raincoats, boots, and umbrellas. To them, rainy days are meant for jumping in puddles, waddling like ducks, and collecting earthworms. We parents, teachers, and caregivers should confidently and enthusiastically encourage rainy-day play because it provides our kids with eight important benefits.

Improve Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills affect a child's balance, coordination, reaction time, and body awareness. Our kids develop these important skills as they jump, run, and play outdoors. Rainy days provide even more intense gross motor skill training, since our kids must balance carefully on slippery surfaces, work hard to walk through mud, and navigate the outdoors in their bulky rain boots.

Stay Active

Our kids need to engage in active play every day. Play is important for their physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Even on rainy days, let's encourage our kids to go outside and run, jump, dance, and stay active.

Learn About Science

Rainy weather offers numerous opportunities for our kids to learn about science and record their findings in a nature notebook. For example, my girls might examine the effects of rain on materials like paper, chalk, and golf balls, predict how fast leaves and sticks will float down our sloped driveway, and hypothesize about the depth of mud puddles. And every summer, they track the amount of rain we receive and compare the total to previous years. I encourage these and other rainy-day experiments because I want my girls to stretch their creativity and reinforce science learning as they play.

Respect the Power of Water

Water can produce electricity and cause flash floods. Rainy-day play gives me the opportunity to discuss the power of water and teach my girls to respect nature as we watch puddles widen along the road and see leaves float down the storm drain.

Enjoy a Unique Sensory Experience

Through sensory play, our kids develop cognitive, communication, and social skills. We provide unique experiences that engage their senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch when we encourage our kids to play outside on rainy days. They can:

Make Music

As toddlers, my girls sang "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "There's a Hole in the Bucket" when they danced in puddles. Now that they're older, though, they listen to the rain's rhythm and create their own songs. One of my girls usually starts clapping to the beat, and her sister improvises song lyrics. The rain sparks their creativity and invites them to make music.

Value Rain

Rain supports life on earth, making it essential to our survival. Let's use rainstorms to help our kids gain an appreciation for water. We can talk about the water cycle, erosion, droughts, and floods as we build dams, fashion mud pies, and watch puddles form. I also challenge my girls to imagine what life would be like without the water that comes from rain. They sure would miss visiting the beach! We depend on rain in so many ways, and playing outside on rainy days increases our respect for this valuable resource.

Bond as a Family

Playing in the rain is good for my girls because they often cooperate as they dance, jump, and sing. I often join in the fun, too, because I value the opportunity to stay active and share bonding experiences with my girls. We still laugh about the time last summer when we danced in the rain all the way to the library. These memories are ones I know I'll cherish forever.

The next time a rainstorm starts, bundle your kids up in the appropriate rain gear and head outside. Rainy-day play provides our kids with eight benefits, and it's fun. What educational, entertaining, and outdoor rainy-day activities do your kids enjoy?

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

My girls would love to own a dog. Unfortunately, we're not able to adopt a pet right now. However, my kids can still get their fill of pet care as we help some of the 6.5 million homeless companion animals that enter animal shelters annually. As a family, we've discovered seven ways we can be animal champions in animal shelters and get our pet fix each week. Consider joining us!

Volunteer

At our local animal shelter, my girls and I volunteer to cuddle cats, clean kennels, and stuff envelopes for fundraiser mailings. We work alongside other volunteers who walk, bathe, and groom pets. Together, we provide a better life for pets in the shelter and prepare our favorite furry friends to find their forever homes.

Collect Supplies

Our local animal shelter often needs blankets, towels, and toys, and their website features a suggested donation list that usually includes cleaning supplies, laundry soap, and printer paper. In addition to adding at least one of these items to our regular shopping list, we often browse the animal shelter's Amazon wish list when we shop online. Every donation, whether it's large or small, makes a difference to animals in need.

Offer Specialized Skills

My older daughter likes to photograph pets at the shelter. Some of her photos, posted on the shelter's website, have prompted successful adoptions! We also have friends who use skills like graphic design, bookkeeping, and obedience training to help shelter animals.

Provide Transportation

I follow various rescue shelters on social media and often see requests for transportation help. The organization's members travel up to several hours away to rescue animals in need. Transportation volunteers also deliver foster or adopted pets to their new homes, take shelter animals to the veterinarian, or pick up donations each month from local businesses that participate in corporate fundraisers. With a vehicle and time, we can contribute to one of our favorite causes.

Consider Fostering

Animal foster families nurture, train, and love homeless animals until these pets are adopted into a forever home. If your local shelter allows fostering, consider this opportunity. It gives kids exposure to pet ownership but is temporary, perfect for families like ours that can't commit to adopting a pet right now.

Donate Money

Many animal shelters rely on financial donations. These contributions pay for veterinary care, spaying and neutering, medication, and daily operating expenses. For their birthdays this year, my girls set up a donation page for our local animal shelter. My kids appreciate the opportunity to give back to animals, and I'm grateful for the lessons they learn about selflessness, empathy, and compassion.

Spread the Word

Raising awareness about the pets that live in local animal shelters can promote adoptions. We follow our local shelter on social media and do animal networking with our social media contacts. We also tell as many people as possible about our volunteer work and encourage others to get involved, make donations, and help animals in every possible way.

We may not be ready to adopt a pet right now, but we can help shelter animals in other ways. Whether you're an animal novice or expert, you and your kids could join us. In what other ways could we support shelter animals without adopting?

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

As parents, caregivers, and teachers, we must teach our kids to value, respect, and preserve our planet. Earth Day, held annually on April 22, offers an excellent opportunity to have fun and become more eco-friendly. Here's a list of seven playful ways we can celebrate Earth Day this year.

Walk in Nature

Appreciating nature is one of my family's favorite ways to celebrate Earth Day. Not only do we enjoy all of the beautiful sights of nature during our walk, but we also appreciate the opportunity to reconnect with the planet. We pick a local trail to explore, pack a picnic lunch, and plan a fun game. In past years, we've completed scavenger hunts, counted squirrels, and looked for objects in every color of the rainbow. This year, my girls want to illustrate our walk in their nature journal.

Park the Car

One of our neighbors challenged us to park the car for Earth Day this year. He suggested we ride the bus or carpool unless we can bike, skate, or walk where we want to go. My girls are excited about this idea because it's an active, fun, and eco-friendly way to reduce pollution and protect our planet.

Plant Something

Last year, my girls and I participated in a local tree-planting ceremony. This year, my girls decided to stick closer to home with their planting efforts and plan to fill our patio container garden with herbs and vegetables. My girls and I anticipate a tasty harvest and appreciate that the environmental benefits of growing food include reducing our carbon footprint.

Declutter the House

As part of our annual Earth Day celebration, my girls and I make an effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We evaluate our purchases over the past year and brainstorm ways to buy less stuff. We also look for ways to repurpose items we already own. For example, scarves can double as belts, and mugs can store pencils, makeup brushes, or silverware. Finally, we donate gently used, unwanted clothing, toys, and household items to charity. Each of these three actions benefits the environment and equips my girls with positive habits that support future conservation.

Complete Recycled Craft Projects

Every April, my girls collect unusual items we might otherwise throw away, such as boxes, string, bread bag ties, and empty cans. They use these items to create unique works of art on Earth Day. This fun project exercises my girls' creativity and reduces the amount of trash we throw away.

Pick Up Litter

Even though our city officials prioritize trash removal, we always find litter on the ground as we walk around town. That's why we grab trash bags, put on gloves, and pick up trash on Earth Day. Our efforts spruce up our neighborhood and remove harmful litter that endangers wildlife, contaminates groundwater, and spreads disease.

Attend a Local Earth Day Event

Many communities, including ours, host Earth Day events that raise awareness for our beautiful environment. In recent years, we've participated in a local wildflower planting ceremony, e-waste recycling demo, and park cleanup project. We enjoy attending these events where we learn new ways to protect our plant and celebrate Earth Day with our neighbors and community.

Earth Day provides parents, caregivers, and teachers with a unique opportunity to teach our kids to appreciate our planet and to establish eco-friendly habits. This year, consider participating in one of these seven activities. What other playful Earth Day activities do you recommend?

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Now that spring has arrived, my girls and I are officially in spring cleaning mode. We're cleaning the entire house from top to bottom and getting rid of clutter in each room. I'm especially excited about donating our unwanted kids' items to charity because we own too much stuff. To help my girls become more generous, protect the environment, and support a good cause, I ask them every year to research where we can donate our unwanted stuff. So far, my girls have recommended several places that will accept, use, and appreciate our gently used toys, clothing, and other children's items.

Thrift Stores

Goodwill, Salvation Army, Community Aid, and Volunteers of America are four of many charitable organizations that resell donated items in their thrift stores. These organizations support employees with disabilities, feed the homeless, help at-risk youth, rescue pets, or meet other humanitarian needs in our community.

Collection Centers

Companies like Planet Aid accept used clothing and shoes via collection bins that are placed in store parking lots. Organizations use donated items to support environmental and social progress around the world. In addition to using collection bins, we've also donated shoes to Soles4Souls and winter coats to One Warm Coat, two organizations that serve people in need.

Local Homeless Shelters

In our local area, several homeless shelters provide temporary housing and support for families, including children, in need. I hate the thought of kids living in a homeless shelter, but I'm grateful that our like-new toys, clothing, and other items can give these kids a feeling of normalcy despite their challenging circumstances.

Stuffed Animals for Emergencies

After an accident, illness, house fire, severe storm, or other emergency, displaced families need a lot of support, including toys and clothing. My girls like to support Stuffed Animals for Emergencies because they know their gently used children's clothing, toys, books, and baby items will be loved and appreciated during hard times.

Nurseries and Preschools

Nonprofit nurseries and preschools typically operate on a limited budget and often appreciate donations of gently used children's items, including baby toys, books, and outdoor play toys. When we've donated to a nursery or preschool in the past, we usually ask if we can help out by reading to or playing with the children after we drop off our items.

Hospitals and Doctors' Offices

When my girls were younger, they always looked forward to visiting the doctor because of the toy and book section. Now, they get excited about donating toys to our local pediatric hospital and doctors' offices. Some of our local facilities only accept new items because of germ and infection risks, so we always call first and ask about their donation policy.

Freecycle

We've met dozens of new friends through Freecycle. Members of this online group give or seek almost anything, making it the perfect way to purge our possessions and give kid-related items a new life in someone else's home.

Before You Donate

To ensure that our donations can be used by charities, we take several steps before we donate.

Donate only new or gently used items.

Wash clothing and toys thoroughly.

Inspect items carefully, and throw away or recycle anything with missing pieces, holes, or other blemishes.

Contact the charity to ensure that they can accept your specific donations.

As my family cleans our home each spring, we look forward to donating our gently used toys, clothing, and other children's items. Consider joining us this year as we support good causes, protect the environment, and teach our kids to become more generous. Where is your favorite place to donate children's items?

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Play is fun for kids, but it's also an important learning tool. While playing, my girls have learned skills like holding a pencil, waiting in line, and sharing their toys. Sociologist Mildred Parten Newhall agreed that play is essential for child development, and she discovered that children under five years of age engage in six stages of play. As parents, caregivers, and teachers, we should understand these stages as we help young children develop and grow.

Unoccupied Play

As babies, our kids spend most of their time sleeping, eating, and making dirty diapers. When they are awake, they move their legs, feet, arms, and hands in random ways or stare at a mobile above their crib or floor play mat.

These actions seem insignificant, but they're a form of play that supports a baby's development. Through unoccupied play, babies discover how their bodies work and move, learn more about their surroundings, and prepare for future developmental stages.

Solitary Play

While observing children from birth to age two, we typically don't see them interact much with other kids. Their preference for solitude isn't because they're antisocial. Rather, kids at this age play alone because they simply don't notice other children who are sitting or playing nearby.

Solitary play is normal and developmentally important. Children discover their interests, explore their surroundings, and learn how to work independently as they play alone. Even now, my girls sometimes retreat to separate rooms where they can play alone and regroup, recharge, and rest.

Spectator or Onlooker Play

Around two years of age, children start to notice other children at play. While they're still not ready to join in or participate in the fun, they do watch closely from the sidelines. These kids may even ask the playing children questions about their game or activity.

I used to think that my spectating girls were shy or hesitant. However, the onlooker stage of play teaches our kids more about how life works. They develop self-awareness, empathy, and nonverbal communication skills as they observe others play.

Parallel Play

Children start to play alongside or near other kids after they turn two years old. While kids in this play stage may not interact with, talk to, or share with their playmate, they do sit together and may even pay attention to each other.

This stage of play lays the foundation for more complex play stages and social play activities our kids will explore later in life. I know my girls developed important motor skills, spacial awareness, and language through parallel play.

Associative Play

Our kids begin interacting with each other around age three or four. This play stage normally doesn't include rules or organization. However, children may talk to each other, ask questions, and work toward a common goal during associative play.

During this stage, kids may play with their own individual toys while sitting near each other on the floor. They may also swing and climb on the same piece of playground equipment or build a block tower together as they begin to understand how to get along with peers.

Cooperative or Social Play

When children play the same activity together, they're engaging in cooperative or social play. This stage of play normally begins at age four.

Children may negotiate the game they'll play, take turns suggesting plots, and change roles as they cooperate to achieve a goal. Some of my girls' favorite social play included running a pretend restaurant, playing a game of tag, and completing a puzzle together.

From birth to age five, our children experience six stages of play. Sometimes, they experience one or more stages simultaneously, and they may incorporate elements of earlier play stages as they engage in advanced play stages. The important thing is that we parents, caregivers, and teachers encourage our kids to play and provide plenty of play time as we help them develop and grow. What examples of these stages of play have you observed in your children?

Monday, March 18, 2019

When children misbehave at school, they may lose their recess privileges. I know my girls have both lost recess in the past because they didn't complete classwork or homework on time, fidgeted a lot, or talked during class. While this punishment is easy to administer and can motivate good behavior, let's consider how taking away recess actually backfires in several ways for our children and their teachers.

Recess Releases Pent-Up Energy

Children are naturally energetic. They're going to fidget, get out of their seats, or be unable to sit still during class. Send them outside or to the gym to play, where they release their excess energy, and they return to the classroom more relaxed, focused, and ready to learn.

Recess Cultivates Attentiveness

A 5-year-old child has less than a six-minute attention span for assigned tasks, yet we often require young children to sit still and listen to long lectures or complete worksheets. It's no wonder children misbehave. We need to give our kids recess breaks throughout the day because when they return to class, they'll be alert, focused, and attentive.

Recess Develops School Skills

When our kids play on the jungle gym, swings, and teeter-totter, they do more than have fun. These playground activities also develop the essential skills kids need in the classroom. For example, holding onto jungle gym bars improves the fine motor skills kids use to write, and swinging boosts coordination that leads to reading fluency. We actually equip our kids to succeed in school when we provide recess and encourage play.

Recess Boosts Test Scores

Playing by itself won't help our kids pass tests, but the physical activity is connected to better test scores. Time away from the classroom reboots our kids' brains and promotes creative thinking, two factors that may boost regular and standardized test scores.

Recess Improves Social Skills

One year, my younger daughter lost several recesses because she talked too much during class, and her best friend lost recesses because she spoke rudely to peers. In both cases, play time would have taught and reinforced appropriate social skills. Unstructured play time teaches our kids how to interact with their peers and invites them to solve problems, manage conflict, and take turns. These essential social skills help our kids succeed in and out of the classroom.

Recess Promotes Physical Exercise

Our kids spend at least six hours a day at school, have homework in the evenings, and may turn to video games to unwind. The CDC recommends that our kids get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day, though. By providing recess, we give our kids time to run, jump, move, and meet their daily physical exercise quota, so let's promote this fun and beneficial activity.

Recess Combats Obesity

Childhood obesity may lead to heart disease, diabetes, and other health complications later in life. I know kids spend a lot of time sitting down during the school day, but we can also provide recess. It can motivate our kids to move more when they're at home, may reduce obesity, and helps our kids maintain an overall healthier lifestyle.

Alternatives to Taking Away Recess

Taking away recess is an easy punishment, but we can do better. Let's discover why our kids act out during class and take steps to address those challenges in a productive and beneficial way. What we call misbehavior could actually be a skill deficit or a learning disability.

We can also add frequent breaks into the school day and try creative punishments that supplement rather than replace recess. To manage behaviors and equip our kids to learn and succeed in school, we can:

Send fidgety kids on an errand to the supply closet or the school office.

Jump in place or through tires while practicing spelling words and math problems.

Dance to music between classes.

Practice yoga before school, after lunch, or at the end of the day.

Assign chores like picking up all the playground toys after recess, organizing bookshelves, or sweeping the classroom floor.

Recess is a necessary part of the school day for our kids. They need time to play, move, and unwind. Instead of taking away recess for bad behavior, we must support our children and provide plenty of recess time at school. In what other ways does recess benefit your children?

Friday, March 15, 2019

My younger daughter came home from school today with exciting news about her classroom. The teacher decided to implement a flexible classroom setting that will include standing tables, sofas, reading rugs, and exercise balls. The students are looking forward to the open and welcoming atmosphere, and I like the idea, too. Flexible classrooms promote movement and play during the day, and these educational environments can offer important benefits to our children.

Empower Students

We want to raise our kids to become independent thinkers and problem-solvers who take ownership of their education. Let's cultivate these important skills in a flexible classroom where our kids can choose where to sit based on their needs. Students experience fewer distractions, more productivity, and more empowerment when they take responsibility for their educational success.

Boost Academic Performance

As a parent, I focus more on learning than grades, but grades are important. I've noticed that a variety of factors, including the classroom environment, subject matter, and educational stimulation, can boost our kids' academic achievement. Flexible classrooms nurture these factors and support our kids' motivation to learn.

Enhance Collaboration

In the real world, our kids must work well with others. We teach them how to collaborate, share, and build a community when we provide flexible classroom environments. Instead of feeling possessive about a desk and their personal space, kids learn to work together as they negotiate seating arrangements and interact with classmates from their standing desks, soft chairs, and floor mats.

Encourage Physical Exercise

Traditional classroom settings include hours of sitting, which can hinder our kids' academic performance and overall health and wellness. We improve alertness, focus, and behavior when we encourage our kids to exercise and move often during the day. Flexible classrooms encourage our kids to rock, bounce, lean, stand, and wiggle. These movements boost mental sharpness and help our kids perform better in school.

Improve Comfort

Uncomfortable classrooms distract students and hinder their ability to listen to the teacher, understand concepts, and retain information. Alternatively, we create a comfortable, calm, and engaging learning environment when we implement flexible seating. Our kids are more likely to listen and learn and less likely to feel anxious or stressed when they feel comfortable in their classroom.

Promote Fun

I know school is a serious endeavor for our kids, and I want my girls to work hard when they're in school. But most of the parents and teachers I know want children to be happy at school, too. Happy and excited kids become enthusiastic learners who engage with the material and retain information more easily. We encourage fun and engagement when we implement flexible classroom environments with exciting, new, and unique seating arrangements and learning opportunities.

Customize Configurations

My teacher friends tell me that the dynamics of every class change based on the students and the subject. Flexible classrooms allow teachers and students to maximize their classroom space and daily lessons based on the students' needs and preferences. This flexibility helps kids succeed.

The flexible classroom my daughter will soon enjoy at school can improve her educational experience. I welcome this change because it promotes movement and play in addition to these seven benefits. How else would your children benefit from flexible classrooms?